Resources

What is Science?

http://kosmoi.com/Science/Method/

Describes science as based on objective observation, the formulation of hypotheses that fit data and predict other possibilities, repeatable experiments that can fail as well as succeed, and analysis and review of information by the scientific community.

The Nature of Science

http://www.project2061.org/tools/sfaaol/chap1.htm

Discusses the nature of science, scientific inquiry, and how scientists share certain basic beliefs and attitudes about what they do and how they view their work.

The Nature of Science

http://www.nsta.org/159&psid=22

Outlines the National Science Teachers Association’s Declaration on the Nature of Science.

Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science

http://books.nap.edu/books/0309063647/html/index.html

This book, from the National Academy of Sciences, has an extensive discussion in chapter 3 about the nature of science. Extensive examples are drawn from Darwin and from geology, showing how scientific understanding of plate tectonics has evolved.

Scientific Inquiry

What is inquiry?

http://www.materialsworldmodules.org/teaching/design5.htm

Offers a model for engaging students in scientific inquiry through the use of design projects.

What is Scientific Inquiry?

http://acept.la.asu.edu/courses/phs110/si/chapter1/main.html

Provides a description of the scientific inquiry process, characterizing experimental data, and scientific laws and theories.

Scientific instruments

Ocean Instruments

http://www.whoi.edu/science/instruments/

This site at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution provides detail on more than a dozen instruments used in ocean research. Separate articles and photos show each instrument in use and explain how and why it is used to study the ocean.